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The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004

Monitoring progress towards the World Food Summit and Millennium Development Goals











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    Book (series)
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    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2010
    Addressing food insecurity in protracted crises
    2010
    Following more than a decade of seemingly inexorable increases in the number of undernourished people, estimates for 2010 presented in this edition of The State of Food Insecurity in the World show a slight glimmer of hope, with the first fall since 1995. But that still leaves nearly a billion people going hungry, and it is too early to know if this is the beginning of a downward trend or merely a momentary dip in the number of undernourished. This year, The State of Food Insecurity in the World focuses on a particular group of countries, countries in protracted crisis, where levels of undernourishment are estimated to be at almost 40 percent. It examines the difficulties faced in trying to turn around the situation in such countries, not least the difficulty of moving beyond the mindset of humanitarian intervention towards a broader-based development agenda.
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    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008
    High food prices and food security – threats and opportunities
    2008
    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 represents FAO’s ninth progress report on world hunger since the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS). In previous editions, FAO has expressed deep concern over the lack of progress in reducing the number of hungry people in the world, which has remained persistently high. This year’s report focuses on high food prices, which are having a serious impact on the poorest populations in the world,drastically reducing their already low purchasing power. High foo d prices have increased levels of food deprivation, while placing tremendous pressure on achieving internationally agreed goals on hunger by 2015. This report also examines how high food prices present an opportunity to relaunch smallholder agriculture in the developing world.
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    Book (series)
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    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2009
    Economic crises – impacts and lessons learned
    2009
    The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2009 presents the latest statistics on global undernourishment and concludes that structural problems of underinvestment have impeded progress toward the World Food Summit goal and the first Millennium Development Goal hunger reduction target. This disappointing state of affairs has been exacerbated by first the food crisis and now the global economic crisis that, together, have increased the number of undernourished people in the world to mo re than one billion for the first time since 1970. The report describes the transmission channels through which the economic crisis has affected developing countries and presents a series of country case studies that show how the poor are struggling to cope with a severe shock that is not of their own making. This crisis is different from the crises developing countries have experienced in the past, because it is affecting the entire world simultaneously, because it comes on top of a food crisis that has already strained the coping mechanisms of the poor, and because developing countries today are more integrated into the global economy than in past decades. In the context of the enormous financial pressures faced by governments, the twin-track approach remains an effective way to address growing levels of hunger in the world. Stepping up investment in the agriculture sector, especially for public goods, will be critical if hunger is to be eradicated. In additio n, safety nets designed to protect the most poor and food-insecure are an essential complement to such investment because the poorest should be given the opportunity to feed themselves now, even if the full impact of longer-term investment has not yet been realized.

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    Bulletin
    Non-wood news
    An information bulletin on Non-Wood Forest Products
    2007
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    Behind the new-look Non-Wood News is the usual wealth of information from the world of NWFPs. The Special Features section covers two different aspects of NWFPs: a specific product (bamboo) and a developing market (cosmetics and beauty care). Bamboo is versatile: it can be transformed, for example, into textiles, charcoal, vinegar, green plastic or paper and can also be used as a food source, a deodorant, an innovative building material and to fuel power stations. Reports indicate that natural c osmetics and beauty care are a huge global market, with forecasts indicating an annual growth of 9 percent through 2008. The Special Feature on Forest cosmetics: NWFP use in the beauty industry builds on this and includes information industry interest and marketing strategies (consumers are being drawn to natural products and thus their content is emphasized). As can be seen from the articles on shea butter in Africa and thanakha in Myanmar, many societies have always used and benefited from nat ural cosmetics. This issue includes other examples of traditional knowledge, such as the uses of the secretions of a poisonous tree frog in Brazil and the use by the traditional healers in India of allelopathic knowledge.
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    Book (stand-alone)
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    Appropriate food packaging solutions for developing countries 2014
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    The study was undertaken to serve as a basis for the international congress Save Food!, taking place from 16 to 17 May 2011, at the international packaging industry fair Interpack2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Save Food! has been co organized by Interpack2011 and FAO, aiming to raise awareness on global food losses and waste. In addition, Save Food! brings to the attention of the international packaging industry the constraints faced by the small- and medium-scale food processing industries in dev eloping countries to obtain access to adequate packaging materials which are economically feasible. This revised edition, dated 2014, contains a new section on investment opportunities in developing countries (paragraph 3.7).
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Technical book
    The rice crisis
    Markets, policies and food security
    2010
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    In the context of the 2007-08 rise in world food prices, this book examines how government policies caused and responded to soaring prices in the case of rice, the world’s most important source of calories for the poor. Case studies of policy reactions in different countries provide the understanding necessary to evaluate the impact of trade policy on the food security of poor farmers and consumers. They also provide important insights into the concerns of developing countries that are relevant for future international trade negotiations in key agricultural commodities. As a result, more appropriate policies can be put in place to ensure more stable food supplies in the future.